asserts, he can depend iii)Ou a certain number 

 of his fowls retiring and rising with the bees, it 

 will prove a valuable labor-saving invention." 



We shall, when we can procure a copy of 

 this Patent Office Agricultural Report, use such 



matter as we can find — which has not been trans- 

 ferred from our associates— when it may seem 

 to be of importance to the great interest to which 

 they and we are giving all our time and atten- 

 tion, with so mucli labor and at so m itch expense 



MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN. 



This important and valuable plant is of the 

 genus ZeaMu^/s, from Zoo, to live, in reference 

 to the nutritive properties of the plants belong- 

 ing to the genus. The French name, B!e de 

 Turkic ; the Spanish, Tn3;o de Jndias ; the 

 \ Italian, Grano Tnrco a Siciliano ; the German, 

 Turkische korn Mn.ys. 



America is doubtless the native country of a 

 plant so important to her interests ; and it is sup- 

 posed to be indigenous to South America, being 

 the only species of grain cultivated in flie New 

 World previous to its discovei-j' by Europeans. 

 It was found in use by the natives of the West 

 Indies, when they were first visited by Colum- 

 bus. Notwithstanding this well-established fact, 

 the origin of mai^e has been a disputed point ; 

 and several early European writers maintained 

 that it came from the East. Varieties of the plant, 

 it is said, have been brought from the Isle of 

 France or from China. In favor of its Ameri- 

 can origin, however, is the fact that it was found 

 in a state of cultivation in every place where the 

 first navigators landed. In Mexico, according 

 to Hernandez, and in Brazil, according to Zeri, 

 and that in the various countries it had proper 

 names, such as Maize, Florcli, &c., while in the 

 Old World, its names were either all of Ameri- 

 can origin, whence it was derived. Imme- 

 diately after the discovery of America, it was 

 spread rapidly in the Old World, and soon be- 

 came common — a fact not reconcilable with its 

 former existence there. 



To these proofs. Aug. de Saint Hiliare has 

 added another. He has received from M. de 

 Larranghu, of Montevideo, a new variety of 

 maize, distinguished by the name of Tunicala ; 

 because, instead of having the grains naked, they 

 are entii-ely covered by the glumes. This vari- 

 ety is from Paraguay, where it is cultivated by 

 the Guaycurus Indians, a people in the lowest 

 scale of civilization ; and where, according to the 

 direct testimony of one of them, it grows in the 

 humid forests, as a native production.* 



The early authors who have written about 

 America, with few if any exceptions, mention 



* Johnston's Farmers' Encyclqpsedia. 

 '1250) 



maize as an indigenous grain. Thus Acoste, 

 who died in his 60th year, in 1600, at Salamanca, 

 in Spain, calls it " Indian ■wheat to make bread 

 of," and says " that it was the only grain found 

 in the West Indies by the Europeans — that it 

 grows upon a long reed with large grains, and 

 sometimes two ears on a reed, on one of which 

 700 grains have been told — that they sow it 

 grain by grain and not scattering, as is done 

 with wheat ; and it requires a hot and moist soil. 

 There are two sorts of it, (.says this author), one 

 large and substantial, the other small and dry, 

 which they call " moroche." The leaves of it, 

 and also the reed are very good for cattle, green, 

 and dry, it serves as well as straw. The grain 

 is better for beasts than barley. The Indians 

 eat it hot, boiled, and call it "nioti.'' There is 

 a sort of it large and round, which the Spaniards 

 eat toasted ; they also grind it and make cakes, 

 which they eat hot, and these, in some places, 

 they call 'arepas.' They also make bread, to 

 keep, and sweet-cakes of it." 



Maize is now extensively cultivated in Asia, 

 Africa, and the South of Europe. On all the 

 shores of the Mediterranean — Spain, Italy, and 

 the countries of the Levant — it supplies a 

 considerable portion of the food in most com- 

 mon use. Large quantities are raised in the 

 valley of the Danube and other rivers which 

 flow into the Black Sea, and exported thence 

 to various parts of Europe. The region of the 

 maize in Europe seems to have been extending 

 northward. It is grown in France, Germany, 

 and even in the Netherlands. The last, how- 

 ever, is somewhat beyond the true region of the 

 maize, which requires the warmer summer of 

 the South of Europe to bring it to its full perfec- 

 tion. The best kinds suited to the colder cli- 

 mates are the Dwarf, some of which, even in 

 the latitude of Paris, complete the circle of their 

 vegetation in a period comparatively short. 



In America, maize flourishes from 40^ of 

 south latitude to about i-P north latitude. Of 

 the cultivated zea mots, naturalists hold that 

 there is but one specie.?. The varieties of the 

 species cultivated iij the United States are very 

 numerous. A list embracing many of these has 



